Playing With Fire
by Canderous Ordo
Summary: Sonamy one-shot! While decorating for a Christmas party, Amy goes a little overkill with the mistletoe. Armed with only a Zippo lighter, Sonic feels the need to thin the numbers just a smidge. What could possibly go wrong?


Well, folks. It's been a while since I did one of these. Let's see if I still have it… *takes a hit off a joint* …well, here goes nothing!

This fic's brought to you partly by jet lag, Mountain Dew, and my weed man, Shadow!

Disclaimer: I own nothing here except the plot. Hell, I don't even own the joint I took a hit off of; it's Shadow's! ^^;;

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"Sonic!!!"

The hedgehog in question cringed at the more than moderate modicum of irritation apparent in his beckoner's scream coming from inside the building. He shouldn't have been the least bit surprised at the impending consequences of his actions, and in all honesty, he wasn't.

"You are **so** dead when I find you!!!"

Yep. Amy sounded pissed, Sonic reasoned. She didn't sound like she was on the verge of tears, either. He could handle her pissed at him, but if she sprang the waterworks on him, he knew things went too far. Hell, it wouldn't be a complete day without her chasing him and/or threatening to at the very least put him in a sling because of something ill-advised he did. He could more than handle that; he relished it. He made a living weaving in and out of trouble, for crying out loud. He and Amy had a very complicated relationship. The friendship between the two could not be mistaken; they bantered a lot, had their play fights, et cetera. But they often did things that would drive each other crazy. Sonic's romantic aloofness and Amy's clinginess oftentimes clashed, and developed into small arguments, which were mostly quickly resolved by both of them pledging to either back off or open up. It was as if they were boyfriend-girlfriend, except without the kissing. In fact, the line between just friends and boyfriend-girlfriend was getting blurrier by the minute; they'd gone back and forth so many times.

"Just be lucky I don't have my hammer with me, boy!!!"

"Oh, like that thing actually does any damage!" Sonic parried, knowing full well he was playing with fire waist deep in napalm. If he ever went to Vegas, he'd either walk out a millionaire, or bankrupt.

For those just tuning in, i.e. everyone, here's the gist of what's bringing about this potentially cataclysmic confrontation. About a week earlier, the insurance firm Amy held a part-time job at extended invitations for a Christmas party they were sponsoring, and she was issued three other invitations to dole out to whomever she saw fit, so long as they were over 18. Well, since that ruled Tails out, being he was only 13, that left a 21-year old Sonic, and 23-year-old Rouge, who just happened to be in the neighborhood on leave from the CIA. Amy considered inviting Knuckles to come down from Angel Island, but Sonic advised against it saying, "Putting those two together in the same room is like mixing a base and an acid together. Not a good idea if you want to keep the building intact." And so, the last invite remained unused.

About 24 hours ago, Amy got word that several of the people who had first volunteered to set up the party had gone down with a stomach virus that was going around their department. The pink hedgehog gladly volunteered, and when asked if she could rally more people, she willingly obliged. While enlisting Rouge's help was easy enough, Sonic wasn't so receptive. After about ten minutes of cajoling, eyelash batting, and calling in every favor she could, Amy had finally swayed him to her aid. Things didn't really start hitting the fan until an hour ago.

_About one hour ago…_

A voluntold Sonic the Hedgehog entered the hotel's lobby. The dress code was smart casual, so he ended up wearing a navy blue short sleeved dress shirt over a pair of Dickies slacks, and black dress shoes. He opted to leave his top button unbuttoned, and left his shirt unbloused, giving him a sort of sporty, grungy look. Amy was already there, her back to him talking to the hotel's receptionist, when he decided to make his presence known. "Okay, so where is everything?"

Amy turned around to greet him, and smiling as she came to give him a hug. "Hey, you! Glad you can make it!"

"Uh… wow…" Sonic gulped, numbly accepting the hug. She was beautiful.

Of course, he had always thought she was cute to begin with, but if she took the effort to apply a minimal amount of mascara, she would effortlessly turn heads anywhere. Her attire was simple, but effective; a red blouse over a cream-colored knee-high skirt with pink open-toed heels. She had let her quills grow out, which she neatly put most in a bun while letting a few stray locks fall over the side of her face. She also applied a few brushes of make-up, and a touch of lip gloss to accentuate her natural beauty.

All in all, Sonic had his work cut out for him keeping the status quo. And, did it just get warm in here?

Rouge had come into the lobby behind Amy, and seemed to have taken an interest in their conversation; given the sly smirk she was giving Sonic. While Amy couldn't see what he was doing, Sonic mouthed to the bat, "I don't wanna hear it," to which Rouge just shook her head smiling. Now, he had to properly break the ice with Amy. Try not to screw this up, slick, Sonic thought. "Uh, you look great," he commented when he finally regained his bearings when the two separated. An understatement mostly said out of politeness, he knew. But, he had to establish the battle lines.

Amy blushed. "Aww, thanks! You don't look too bad, yourself!"

"So, you have your hired muscle. What do you need help with?" That's the way, Sonic. Just keep things strictly business, and you'll do fine.

Amy thought for a moment, bringing a manicured hand to her cheek. "Hmm, we could use another big, strong type to help move tables. After that, all that's left is getting food out."

"So, you need a pack mule," Sonic summed up. "Fine."

"Thanks again, Sonic!" Amy embraced him again, then turned to the hallway and started down it. "The room we have is just down this hall. You can't miss it!"

Sonic watched her go, leaving him with Rouge, who was still smirking at him. "Alright, smart-ass. Let's hear it."

"Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. I just don't get how you can smooth talk around every other girl around, yet get Amy around you, and you act like a klutz," the bat giggled.

"Let's just get this over with." Sonic made it about two paces down the hall, when he sighted something down the hall that scared the hell out of him: a sprig of mistletoe suspended on the ceiling in the middle of the hall. Acting quickly, Sonic clawed for an excuse to be alone. "I gotta hit the can," he lied. "Don't wait up, 'cause this one's gonna be epic."

Rouge let him go without question, and started back down the hall after Amy. Sonic made his way to the men's room, and upon seeing Rouge disappear into the party room, suddenly made a mad dash for the hotel's gift shop, looking for something that'll make all of his problems go away: a Zippo. After grabbing one and paying for it, he promptly began his anti-mistletoe operations.

_Present time…_

And now, we have Sonic outside, actually looking forward to this spat with Amy. Anything to ease the tension he was feeling, even if this way was a little on the misguided side. Moments later, Amy stepped angrily outside ready to do battle, cheeks flushed with anger, hands clenched at her sides, and her eyebrows furrowed. Sonic had to admit, she maybe looked even cuter when she was mad.

And Sonic decided waist-deep in napalm wasn't deep enough. "Issues?" He asked innocently. Now, he was neck deep with a burning match in his hand.

Calming down somewhat, Amy held up the charred, mutilated remains of a sprig of mistletoe in her delicate fingers. "Would you mind explaining what happened to this poor thing?"

Sonic gauged her face, staring into the intensity of the fire that burned in her green eyes. Yeah, he could push it just a little more before being forced to back down. "I've no idea what you're talking about."

"So… I guess the fact that somebody saw you playing with a new Zippo, and the hotel security cameras caught you throwing away a burnt sprig of mistletoe was more than just coincidence?" She asked sweetly.

Sonic shrugged. "Maybe."

"And there's an imprint of a Zippo in your pocket!"

Judging by the growing fire in Amy's eyes, it might be time to end this game and let her vent before things got out of hand. "Busted."

The blush returned in Amy's cheeks, her hands clenched on her hips. "Ooooh, Sonic! I can't believe you! Do you have any idea how much those cost?!"

Now, the real game begins, Sonic thought. Timing was everything. Do it right, and he saves face. Screw it up, and he ends up in a sling. "Amy, my count was at eighteen sprigs of mistletoe burned. Eighteen!" He reiterated by skywriting the number with a finger. "I spotted them everywhere from the coat rooms, to the smoking areas outside, in ten yard increments in the halls… and I don't even know how many I missed. Is this one of your plans to get a kiss from me?!"

Amy's eyes widened in recognition briefly before resuming her attack. "That's not the point, Sonic T. Hedgehog! The point is what you did was not only asinine; you could've burned this whole place down! Not to mention the fact it was completely—mmph!" Amy's eyes widened in surprise. Sonic had closed distance, and was now was kissing her, a gentle meeting of lips on lips. But, she's supposed to be mad at him! But then, why was she returning the kiss every bit as much, if not more than what Sonic put into it, even embracing him?

Sonic was the first to pull back from the lip-lock. "Unnecessary," he said, finishing her sentence. The two just stared at each other for a few moments, before both broke into identical goofy grins. "You didn't need the mistletoe."

"Well, you didn't need to burn'em," Amy retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Uh, yeah I did," Sonic countered. "People would have to stop every few feet to kiss. They'd never get into the door. Besides, if I didn't destroy them, you'd just pin'em back up."

"Oh, for the record, you left two alive. You didn't get'em all!" Amy confirmed.

Sonic scoffed. "Didn't need to; it was a controlled burn. Worked out well, if you ask me."

"Ah, so you were planning this the whole time?" Amy teased.

"Maybe. So, where'd you put the other two?" Sonic asked.

Amy smiled. Sonic looked at her suspiciously. Why did he sense a modicum of mischief in her eyes? "Funny you asked that. One, I didn't even bother to put up…"

"And the second…?" Sonic asked warily. Amy looked above her and Sonic followed her eyes. Suspended above them was the second sprig of mistletoe.

"Gotcha!"

Sonic couldn't even fathom how he missed it before. Attention to detail, he berated himself. Before Amy could move in for another kiss, Sonic stopped her, "Hey, hold on! We already kissed here! That's like double jeopardy!"

"True," Amy admitted, "but you didn't know there was a sprig of mistletoe here. In order for the kiss to count, both parties have to be aware of it."

"Since when?!" Looking down at her, he realized he had a snowball's chance in Hell of winning this argument. "Oh, never mind. You win." As they kissed again, Sonic couldn't help but think he played with fire, and just when he thought he'd get away unscathed, he got burned. Of course, it could be worse. At least Tails or Knuckles wasn't there to give him flak about it. Now, he'd just have to explain to everyone why the two of them were gone… that is, if Rouge hadn't already gotten the jump on it.

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And that about wraps that up! Yikes, I really meant for this to be half as long as it turned out. Oh, well. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'm gonna go do some push-ups on my knuckles, fire off a few rounds from my weapon, or just go play Call of Duty 4 because I'm a MAN!!!!! And I do MANLY things!!!!!! And then I turn around and write fluffy one-shots… crap.

Merry Christmas, everyone!


End file.
